Reproductive Freedom Legislation

HB 570 – Sex-Selection Abortion Ban (2011-2012)

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Summary:

This bill prohibits the performance of abortions due to the sex of the fetus, as well as funding or coercing a woman to have this type of abortions. Individuals who perform, coerce, or fund a sex-selection abortion face a third degree felony and possible civil penalties.

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Our take on this bill:

HB 570 is a particularly threatening bill to women’s reproductive choice options in Ohio, as its provisions do the following:

Link a woman’s reason for having an abortion to a criminal charges

Allow the parent of a minor and the father of the fetus, regardless of the woman’s age, to seek civil action if a sex-selection abortion is performed without their consent, unless the pregnancy is a result of the father’s or parent’s criminal conduct

Expose those who help women fund their abortions to the possibility of a third degree felony, which carries a sentence of 1-5 years in prison, if it is linked to a sex-selection abortion procedure

Strip privacy from women by requiring medical and mental health personnel to report any “known or suspected” sex-selection abortions to law enforcement, with failure to do so being a fifth degree felony with a prison term of up to a year